All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

They're not there to work…they're not there to shop…they're just
there.

Opening Statement

Kevin Smith's lackluster sequel to Clerks is given the full treatment as a
Universal Collector's Edition DVD. In the process, this disc helps to shed some
light (and some new laughs) on what went wrong with Mallrats.

The Evidence

There are not many people out there who have seen Clerks and then can say they enjoyed Kevin
Smith's follow-up film, Mallrats, more than his first low-budget film.
Despite studio interference, Mallrats provides some good laughs to fans
of Smith's work, although not the constant barrage of humor presented in
Clerks.

Mallrats is the story of T.S. Quint (Jeremy London) and his friend
Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) who both retreat to their local mall when their
respective girlfriends dump them both. Once at the mall T.S. and Brodie discover
that their local hangout has been taken over for a shooting of the dating show,
"Truth or Date," run by the father of T.S.'s former girlfriend, Jared
Svenning (Michael Rooker). T.S. originally broke up with his girlfriend Brandi
(Claire Forlani) because she agreed to participate as a contestant in her
father's show, instead of going with T.S. to Florida; where T.S. planned to
propose. Brodie and T.S. enlist the help of Silent Bob and Jay (Kevin Smith and
Jason Mewes) to help ensure that the TV show in the mall is ruined. At the same
time Brodie discovers that his former girlfriend Rene (Shannen Doherty) is
dating the testosterone driven manager of a men's store in the mall, Shannon
(Ben Affleck). The movie chronicles the antics of the entire cast as they spend
the day in the mall.

As I said before, Kevin Smith's comedic sense is present throughout this
film, but in a lesser form than in his independent film, Clerks. Most of
the characters in the film are played to perfection and there are tons of cameos
of Smith friends (seen previously in Clerks) and even some semi-famous
individuals. Despite its drawbacks, if you are a fan of Kevin Smith fans, you
will find enough to laugh at in Mallrats to enjoy the film.

Universal does a great job bringing Mallrats to DVD as a Collector's
Edition. The anamorphic widescreen image (1.85:1) looks great, despite the fact
that it only runs on one layer of the disc. Mallrats does not contain any
breath-taking landscapes, besides a Minnesota mall, of course; so its not
exactly the transfer to show off DVD. Nevertheless, flesh tones look realistic
and there is no visible grain or artifacting in the film. As for audio,
Mallrats is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which rarely utilizes
the entire range of all 6 channels. Then again, Mallrats isn't designed
to be flashy in the audio department. As with all of Smith's films,
Mallrats focuses on dialogue, which is well placed and heard on this DVD.
Also benefited by the use of a 5.1 audio track is Smith's great soundtrack and
score for the film. Albeit occasionally cheesy (on purpose) the soundtrack fits
right into the motif of the film and is a joy to listen to.

Now lets move on to the real meat of this disc, the extra content! First of
all, this DVD contains a terrific commentary track that is, in some respects,
even funnier than the film itself. Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason
Mewes, producer Scott Mosier, and Vincent Pereira all shed light on what went
wrong with the film and give some insights into how much fun the shooting of the
film was. To enhance the commentary, Universal has decided to utilize the
multi-angle feature on DVD to allow users to access video of the commentary
recording during certain instances in the film. I would have preferred to see
the video throughout the film, but I'll take what I can get.

A nice featurette is also included in this disc in which Kevin Smith along
with cast and crew members recall struggles in making the film, the marketing of
the film, and the ultimate failure of Mallrats. Not self-serving like
most featurettes, this featurette is a refreshing change allowing those involved
with the film to express their true feelings about what happened with the
movie.

Another addition to the disc are deleted scenes, totaling over an hour of
additional footage. Most of the deleted scenes deal with the original opening
for the film (20 minutes long) which was cut because it wasn't funny and kept
the film from moving to its focal point, the mall, fast enough. Most of the
other additional scenes are either longer versions of existing scenes or
alternate versions of existing scenes that refer to the original opening of the
film. Clumped in with the deleted scenes is a copy of a few pages from the
original Mallrats screenplay; displaying yet another possible opening for
the film.

One of my last favorite extras on this disc is the music video for the
Goops' "Build me up Buttercup." This hilarious music video features
Jay and Silent Bob as they demonstrate all the cheesy music video techniques
used by other directors. Jay and Silent Bob are the ones who bring the funniest
moments to this film so anything extra featuring them is a welcome surprise.
Also available on the disc are production photographs, production notes, web
link content (DVD ROM), and a theatrical trailer. Don't forget to click on the
robot's eyes in the "Bonus Materials" menu for an extra special
surprise!

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Yes, Mallrats is the worst film Kevin Smith has made to date. The
movie really isn't that bad but is definitely below expectations of Kevin
Smith. Smith made a hilarious low budget film so you think with some big name
actors and a larger budget he could make an even more comedic film. But alas,
the Gods of Hollywood had too much of a hand in Mallrats which ultimately
doomed the film.

In comparison to the rest of the cast, Jeremy London's performance as T.S.
is definitely lacking. Probably the only poorly acted character in the film,
T.S. lacks the over-the-top attitude all other characters in the film contain.
Actually, London manages to scare up a few laughs due to his over-acting in this
film. If cast in a lesser role I would hardly care (Smith films are not known
for great acting) but London portrays one of two main characters and therefore
is constantly in the film making me cringe.

Oh, and the Michael Rooker butt shot was just really unnecessary.

Closing Statement

Despite a less than comedic film, Universal manages to make the film once
again interesting and humorous on this DVD with a great commentary track and
some enlightening extra content. Comedy fans will probably want to rent this
film but there is no question that this is the DVD Kevin Smith fans must own;
forget Buena Vista's over-priced, under-content, Clerks Special Edition DVD.